International Tennis Federation. What is ITF, ATP, WTA and how do they differ? ITF tennis tournament

Having plunged headlong into the abyss of Russian Tennis Tour (RTT) tournaments, sooner or later a parent looks out towards the endless expanses of international competitions. And then questions arise: “Where to start and at what age should I go to foreign competitions? How often do you go to play abroad and in which countries? How to navigate the junior rating, and is this rating so important?

It’s probably worth saying right away about the main thing - there are only two really significant tennis tour: This is the ATP for men and the WTA for women and the corresponding competition calendars in which you can gain ratings for these tours. All other regional, junior European and international scoring systems do not play a significant role if the athlete does not have further achievements in the ATP and WTA.

Therefore, junior competitions in any form are only preparation, polishing talent, strengthening the mental, physical and technical capabilities of a tennis player. Victory in the championship of the “water pumping station of the N region”, as well as a prize place under 14 years old in Kuala Lumpur, are in no way an end in itself for a young tennis player. So, then what’s the point of going to junior international competitions at all? You can just train at home, gain playing experience nearby, and then “shoot” at the age of 18–20 and immediately get into the top 100 of the world rankings. This option may also be possible, and what a cost savings it will result in. But not everything is clear. There is still a meaning.

Let's try to figure it out. The Tennis Europe Junior tour (TE) includes three age categories under 12, under 14 and under 16. Until the age of 18, the ITF (International Tennis Federation) rating system appears. The ITF also includes competitions that bring points on the professional adult tour at the most basic level.

Until the age of 12, it is not worth playing away competitions, unless the junior is in another country for a long time and, in order to gain playing experience, participates in local (no matter national or TE) competitions. But from the age of 13 you can try your hand. TE tournaments under 14 and 16 years old are the first stage of acquaintance with the leading juniors in the world, the first test of oneself against players from other countries, the first schedule that gives an idea of ​​​​what awaits in the future. It is advisable to stay in one of these age groups and then immediately move on to ITF U18 competitions.

In the category under 14 years old, there is gradually not so much an increase in the number of tournaments played, but rather a replacement of the PTT calendar with TE. The most significant of the Russian competitions are played. If a child gets into the junior team, he must participate in training camps and go to team and individual European championships as part of it. It is still too early to completely transfer the young tennis player to an “out of home” schedule, but gradually it is worth starting to resolve the issue of free attendance at school. Many children by this age are already studying in the external education system, some are trying to combine study and training, but the choice between a full-time training day and schooling is becoming increasingly acute.

The coach must set the main goals for each athlete, based on the specific situation: level of play, financial capabilities, physical development. Any goals of this period are intermediate, preparing for an adult career. So for the leader of the RTT rating in his own way age group It will be a logical goal to enter the top 10 TE under 14 years old, and for a child who has difficulty completing 1–2 rounds in ALT tour tournaments or 3–4 categories of RTT, it is more important to gain experience, improve skills and simply participate.

In my tennis life the period in the age category up to 14 years lasted for 2 years. The first time we started going to TE tournament qualifications was when I was only about 12 years old. The results were relatively good, she qualified for the main draw and played there for 1-2 rounds. I don't think that first year of travel was really necessary. Because, firstly, even with a good tennis level, there is a significant physiological difference between a girl at 11–12 years old and at 14. All my opponents were two heads taller, noticeably superior to me physically and hit the ball much more powerfully. And secondly, if the whole family knew in advance what financial costs they would have to face in the future, they would probably be more economical about tournament expenses.

The next year I played all the same competitions, only on a larger scale, relative to home ones. In fact, I participated mainly in TE, and among RTT tournaments only in the Russian Championship, where I took 1st place. The results were very good, by the end of the year she was 1st in the TE ranking and won the European team championship as part of the junior team.

Results in ITF junior competitions under 18 years of age are more significant for a future sports career than in previous ones age periods. Still having as their main goal preparation for the adult tour, they are very indicative in terms of assessing the prospects of a particular player. So, it will be very difficult for a seventeen-year-old tennis player with mediocre results in the category under 18 (2-3 hundred in the ranking) to break into world elite adult tennis. It is precisely because of the opportunity to evaluate the potential of young players that ITF tournaments attract a large number of sports agents who are ready to sign contracts with the best of the best. During this period, the junior calendar becomes more and more similar to the adult one. An important task of the coach and the entire athlete’s team is to smoothly adapt to living conditions professional tennis player. The schedule of competitions and the number of trips to junior tournaments under 18 years of age is close to that of an adult, the same change of time zones, acclimatization, constant moving from hotel to hotel, life “out of suitcases”, a rare opportunity to be at home, etc. The organizers try to copy all the nuances life on tour: hotels, transportation, registration for training, racket stringing.

The opportunity to participate in junior Grand Slam tournaments, playing on the same courts as the world tennis elite, also allows you to quickly adapt to the professional environment. The environment of these competitions is unlike any other tennis event. It is important for a young athlete to learn to feel comfortable in the atmosphere of the most significant competitions, not to be afraid to play in front of a large number of spectators, to navigate the crazy crowd of thousands of fans, media representatives, coaches, fellow athletes, judges, ball boys, and to plan the schedule in this way so as not to waste your energy and attention on external hype, but to prepare calmly and confidently for matches.

Participation in such competitions allows you to see world tennis stars “live”, watch them play, as well as watch them in ordinary tournament life (in locker rooms, in the gym, in a cafe, in training), pay attention to their behavior and communication with the press. The ITF rewards juniors for successful performances with bonus wild cards into the main draws of adult competitions. This is an invaluable help in the transition to adult tennis, as it allows you to gain a large number of rating points in one or two victories (of course, provided you play well and win), bypassing the grueling qualifications of ten-thousandth tournaments. In addition, juniors ranked in the top 10 of the world rankings receive from the ITF a bonus opportunity to play several adult tournaments, starting immediately from the main draw. Thus, the girl who became the first in the world under 18 at the end of the year is given a wild card into the main draws of two tournaments with a prize fund of $50,000 and a tournament with a prize fund of $75,000. And a young man who occupies the 1st-2nd place in the junior rating will be included in the main draws of tournaments with a prize fund of $15,000 and free accommodation (hospitality).

To summarize, the main goals of participation in ITF tournaments under 18 years old are:

– gradual transition from junior tennis to adult tennis;

– achieving high positions in the junior rankings to receive bonus wild cards into the main draws of adult tournaments;

– attraction good results sponsors (get decent funding, conclude profitable contracts with sports brands - for rackets, playing uniforms, sneakers, strings);

– gaining experience in junior Grand Slam tournaments (held in parallel with adults);

– to adapt the player to the rhythm of professional tennis life.

The ITF U18 competitions left a lot of bright, unforgettable impressions. I started participating in them at the age of 14, I even played the first two tournaments at 13. For me they were a celebration of fun, communication, and teenage emotions. I think the overabundance of tennis entertainment did not affect better side on the results. In general, the achievements were quite good (I was 21st in singles and 16th in pairs), but if I had not been scattered to the sides and had a competent team nearby, they could have been even better. Already at the age of 16, I began to switch to participating in adult women’s competitions - 10,000, 25,000 thousand, at the age of 17 I did not play ITF tournaments at all, and by the age of 18 I completely switched to the WTA tour and stood there in the first hundred.

I don’t think it’s worth forcing things and striving to move to the senior tour as early as possible, especially in men’s tennis. And in women’s, today it’s better to start at 16–17 years old. From the age of 14, a young athlete can take part in a limited number of adult competitions. The Age Eligibility Rule (AER) was created by the tour following the sad stories surrounding the rapid rise of some female tennis players at a young age and the negative consequences that occurred in their lives after that rise. Young athletes could not withstand excessive workloads, attention from the press and spectators, were not ready to wisely manage the money they earned, and as a result they found themselves in unfavorable situations and were forced to end a successful career in its prime.

Today, girls aged 14 can take part in 8 adults international competitions, at 15 years old - at 10, at 16 years old - at 12, and at 17 years old - at 16. Upon reaching 18 years old, the number of tournaments played is not limited. I think it's impossible early age playing all tournaments in a row is a very reasonable measure to extend sports career. Tennis is becoming an increasingly “age-oriented” sport, requiring enormous physical training resources that are simply not available in a growing body. Premature participation in a large number of adult competitions can lead to injuries, psychological “burnout” and ultimately early retirement.

Thanks to game restrictions, planning a junior’s schedule is much easier. It is clear that every year, with the general dynamics towards an increase in the number of competitions played, there is a replacement of tournaments under 18 years old with tournaments for adults. In this case, you need to approach the preparation of the schedule thoughtfully, because it is the main factor in long-term successful performances without harming the health of the tennis player. The tournament schedule must be individual; universal schemes will not work here, because each athlete is unique, with his own level of play, physical fitness, and his own character traits.

In the second part of this book, we already looked at an example of drawing up a training and competition plan for a tennis player aged 11–12 years. The basic principles of forming a schedule remain the same for a slightly older athlete. The changes concern the selection of tournaments, with TE and ITF competitions becoming a priority. Many parents find it difficult to decide where to start participating in international competitions, when and where to go. Therefore, now we will look at an example of creating a schedule for a 16-17 year old junior starting to play ITF tournaments up to 18 years old.

The first year of competition in this age category presents characteristic difficulties, one of the main ones being the lack of rating points. Without having at least some more or less acceptable position (at least 200–300) in the table of ranks, it is impossible to get into competitions with a strong composition and small nets, not to mention tournaments of higher categories. In order to qualify, an unrated athlete has to go to exotic countries in Latin America, Asia, and Africa, hoping that players with a large number of points from Europe and America will not be able to get there. Such trips are associated with huge financial costs for flights, as well as difficulties with acclimatization in other climatic zones and time zones. In addition, the number of rating points that can be earned in tournaments of a low category is insignificant, so even if a player enters the main draw and wins one or two matches there, the player still does not grow in the rating quickly enough.

So where to start and how to overcome all these difficulties with minimal financial losses and in as soon as possible? The answer to this question is quite simple. We must start with the continuous improvement of the tennis player’s level of play and leading him to participate in the most significant competitions in the best possible shape.

The fact is that no matter how effective and reasonable the tournament plan is, if an athlete, for example, does not know how to serve, has a bad shot, or emotionally fails the 3rd set in every match, then no plan will help him. Therefore, the task of the athlete’s team, first of all his coach, is to work closely in the preparatory period, correct shortcomings, lay the foundation physical fitness, sharpen strengths games. At 16–17 years old, the share of the technical component decreases training process with a simultaneous increase in tactical, physical and mental training. It is assumed that by this age a tennis player should have a hitting technique that has been brought to automaticity. Work can only be done on small nuances, on improving what has already been laid down and honed over the years. It is almost pointless to correct any gross errors in the game - it will take a lot of time, which should now be spent on participating in international competitions and preparing for the adult tour. And having corrected, for example, the point of impact, the player will most likely cease to feel it again in nervous competitive conditions.

The base of physical fitness is laid in the off-season for the entire coming year, taking into account the characteristics of a particular athlete. Subsequently, during the season it is only constantly maintained, with small increases in the intervals between competitions. Despite the fact that the volume of classes physical training increases compared to previous periods, we must not forget that we are still working with a growing organism. Mental preparation is probably becoming one of the main aspects of success in junior and then in adult tennis. This includes not only teaching mental stability, breathing control, and establishing a routine on the court, but also the athlete’s behavior off the court. It is common for the labile psyche of a teenager to look for adventures on his own, and parallel tournaments among boys and girls only contribute to this.

When it comes to getting a player into the best shape before key competitions, it’s worth starting with the selection of these most important competitions. At first, it is difficult to designate any of the tournaments as more important, since it is not the player who chooses what to play, but his rating. This situation also has its advantages. Positive side is that victory (or participation in the final, semi-final) at any of the tournaments is equally significant and pleasant. The main bet is still made on tournaments where a player enters the main draw, possibly through a wild card. Going through the qualification stage takes a lot physical strength, adding 2-3 extra matches, which means it reduces the chances of going far. Therefore, when planning a schedule, first of all, a series of several competitions is drawn up, preferably in one country, with a bet on best result on last tournament in the series.

Usually the number of game weeks is no more than two or three in a row. The first tournament is considered as an engaging, adaptive one, the second is set as a goal to achieve greater results and gain confidence in one’s abilities, and the third is to shoot with maximum success. However, it is necessary to pay attention to the individual characteristics of the players, as some of them show best game already at the first competition played after the training period. Of course, in tennis, we cannot forget about the luck factor. Even with good preparation and a wild card into the main draw, meeting the first seeded player right away is not the best scenario. But here you should always remember that if you are truly a real athlete, you can beat anyone seeded, and no ratings or names should become a hindrance.

By the second year of participation in ITF tournaments, it is advisable for a junior to:

– gain sufficient experience in participating in competitions under 18 years of age. Returning to the same city and playing on the same courts a second time is much easier. All the features of the organization, the distance from the courts to the hotel, the quality of food and other details are already known. Of course, the calendar (once an adequate rating is achieved) will no longer consist entirely of the same competitions, but general principles and the tour itself as a whole will remain unchanged throughout;

– get as close as possible to the first hundred of the ITF rankings. The higher you can rise in the table of ranks, the better. This will allow you to take part in junior Grand Slam tournaments and other major competitions;

– find paired partners with whom you could play best.

Often, coaches and athletes themselves concentrate entirely on singles, withdraw from the doubles tournament if they lose in the first round of the personal bracket, or do not enter it at all. This is also facilitated by the fact that in our country few people teach how to play doubles; juniors have no idea about the tactics of doubles play, and if they do, it is very vague and only in theory. Basically, a couple among junior girls is a diagonal game on the principle: “Who will be the first to make a mistake?”, and also the awkward fluttering of the other two people near the net with panicky thoughts: “Should I run or not run to intercept?”

I think that if possible, it’s worth participating in a doubles tournament, because it’s about developing your thinking on the court, working on your serve and volley, and an opportunity to improve your team skills, and practice foreign language when playing with an English-speaking partner. Of course, sometimes situations arise when, after an exhausting three-set match, you have to go out an hour later for a doubles match. It is especially difficult to have time to recover to singles with the first run the next day, but again, with proper physical preparedness of the athlete, these are not such huge loads as to attribute further unsuccessful performance to them. Besides, winning a doubles tournament is also a victory!

Adult tournaments are added to the schedule of the young tennis player for the second competitive year in the ITF juniors. Trying out the professional tour is only an addition to youth competitions. There should be no problems getting into the main draws of more or less major tournaments, so bets are placed on tournaments of the highest category, including the Grand Slam. If by this age the tennis player does not yet have a contract for rackets and sports uniform, then now is the time to take a closer look at this issue. Most managers of sports firms are present at junior Grand Slam tournaments and are ready to make basic proposals for all participants in the main draws.

If in the second year the results of a young tennis player are still far from desired, and his age allows him to play a third season in the ITF, then this opportunity is worth taking advantage of, but still combining this with an even greater increase in the number of adult tournaments. For young people, such gradualism is even desirable, and for girls it is not critical, but it still makes you wonder if everything is the same with the level of play, if in two years among quite equally formed peers the result is far from the first hundred.

Now let’s try to draw up an approximate step-by-step (for a year, a month and a week) plan for the second year of participation in ITF tournaments for tennis player K. with a current rating of 73 in the category under 18 years old.

The main task for this athlete is a gradual, effective transition from junior tennis to adult tennis. Considering that K. already occupies 73rd position in the under 18 category, it is advisable to combine participation in the most significant tournaments of the ITF junior calendar with adult competitions with a prize fund of $10,000. To obtain sponsorship contracts (if they do not exist yet), it is advisable to break into the junior top 20, such a result will be quite significant. In addition, in junior tennis there is a feed-up system, when, after winning some junior competitions, a player receives the right to participate in certain adult tennis tournaments (WTA and ATP), bypassing qualification.

Tennis betting is very diverse. You can bet on men's and women's draw matches, singles and doubles, category games and WTA. In addition, there are less promoted and popular competitions. In this post you will learn how to do ITF betting.

The abbreviation ITF stands for International Tennis Federation. For us, a more understandable name is International Tennis Federation. Not many people know that dozens of competitions are held under the auspices of the ITF.

ITF tournaments

The ITF organization works closely with local federations (associations in different countries). The ITF either organizes tournaments independently or in cooperation with the above-mentioned federations. So, for example, the following competitions are held around the world:

• The final ATP tournament is the decisive tournament of the season, the so-called final among men.
• Exhibition tournament Hopman Cup, held on Australian courts.
• ITF category games. They are divided into subgroups: men's and women's ITF tours, matches of juniors, veterans and wheelchair athletes.

Tournament categories ITF Futures Suitable for beginner athletes. For them, this is the first step, the initial step before moving into the category of professionals. tennis: ATP & . By the way, the official ITF website is located at: itftennis.com.

Betting on ITF matches

On the one hand, minor tournaments are risky. On the other hand, betting can be used to deal with any sport or any competition. The main thing is to approach the matter correctly: read a lot, analyze, collect and filter information, consider and draw conclusions. It’s not possible to watch many matches, so we’ll highlight only those current trends that catch your eye:

• Favorite wins. As a rule, the favorite of the pair wins, but the odds on the sites leave much to be desired. It is not profitable to place a bet with a quote of 1.20 at a distance.
• At ITF series tournaments, tennis players meet who are sometimes at different poles. For example, there are 1600 and 800 rackets. In such situations, it is customary to bet on “ Total less" This applies to both the total number and TM (2.5) for sets.

• Tiebreaker. Since the athletes at ITF tournaments are far outside the TOP 100, their level of play is, to put it mildly, imperfect. In this regard, as a rule, the set does not last long and there is no tiebreaker in the match.
• TM (10.5)– the optimal bet for both the first and second games. The odds depend on the level of tennis players who meet each other. For the sake of interest, we took into consideration the stage of the 1/8 finals of the ITF tournament in Italy, in the city of Piombino. 8 fights and 17 sets were played. Only 2 tiebreakers were recorded, and the TM bet (10.5) played in 15 cases.

Results

As you can see, identifying certain patterns is not so difficult. The main thing is to be attentive and carefully analyze matches. ITF betting can bring to a person good profit at a distance, if the bettor allocates enough time for bets, keeps track of bets, does competent pre-match analysis, and works on mistakes. If you can’t produce a series yourself positive results, you can always turn to our specialists for help, who daily publish high-quality ones in the same name. Happy betting!